Discovery
by Jiminy The Cricket
Summary: Set after The Cricket Game: Instead of Belle rescuing Archie, Hook captures Emma and Snow and puts them there as well, although Archie is far more badly hurt than he was in the episode
1. Chapter 1

Set after The Cricket Game: Instead of Belle rescuing Archie, Hook captures Emma and Snow and puts them there as well.

Emma and Snow had found the Jolly Roger. Leroy had spotted Hook skulking round one of the alleyways and had tipped them off that the Jolly Roger would have made dock.  
It had taken three hours but finally they had managed to stumble up the invisible stairs and onto the ship's deck.

Suddenly, Hook appeared behind them  
"Ah, your highnesses..." He bowed mockingly "What a surprise to see you here..."  
However, before either could respond, he lashed out, hitting Snow hard in the head with the back of his Hook, then delivering a sharp blow to Emma's head, sending them crashing to the ground, unconscious

When Emma came round she was in pitch darkness, the only audible sound was the steady creaking of the ship as it rocked slowly in the dock.  
"Hello?" Emma called out, feeling round the room. Something shifted in the darkness  
"Emma?" Snow called out.  
"Snow! Are you ok?"  
"I think so..." She hissed through her teeth "Actually, scratch that. I have one hell of a lump on my head..."  
As Emma moved round the wall she hit a plastic box on the wall.  
"Hold on." She told Snow "I've found the lightswitch."  
She felt round a bit more until she felt the switch and she flicked it. Snow appeared out of the darkness, a large graze on her forehead which was bleeding slightly.  
"Snow, are you ok?"  
But Snow wasn't listening. She was staring over Emma's shoulder, dumbfounded, and only when Emma turned round did she see why.

There, lying unconscious against the wall, wrists bound by a thick rope attached to the wall, was Archie Hopper. The same Archie who they had buried barely two day previously, the same Archie who had helped Henry, helped them ALL through hard times... The same Archie who Emma had found lying dead on his office floor a week ago.

"Oh my go- Archie!" Emma rushed over to him, laying a delicate hand on his shoulder, attempting to shake him awake.  
Archie was in a bad way. He had several deep cuts along his arms and body, his back littered with deep gashes, which were all to evidently caused by Hook's metal claw, the blood pooling on the floor in a crimson puddle that made Emma's stomach turn.  
His other injuries were numerous and unclean, and one of his arms was obviously broken.  
He was unnaturally thin, a plate of stale bread and bowl of water left untouched a few meters away, evidently the distance to much of a strain for him to manage to crawl in his condition. Emma suspected Hook enjoyed seeing the starving man squirm to get to the food.  
"Is he...?"  
"He's breathing." Emma sighed in relief  
"He was down here all this time..." Snow breathed, eyes beginning to water. "Hook had him all along..."  
Emma embraced her mother  
"Don't worry. We'll get that b*stard for what he's done. Him AND Cora."  
A painful groan came from behind them and they broke apart, staring at Archie who was slowly stirring, wincing as he shifted around.  
"Archie." Emma called, willing him to wake up.  
Archie's eyes flickered open painfully, the light causing him to clamp his eyes shut once more for a second, and Emma wondered how long Hook had left him in the dark.  
As Archie once more opened his eyes, his vision slowly adjusting to the harsh light, he caught sight of who was sitting infront of him.  
"E-Emma? Snow..." He murmured, his voice crackling with pain and disuse, then the blood drained from his face as he realised what was happening "Oh no... he got you to..."  
"Yeah..." Snow sighed, offering him a slight smile in reassurance "He did, I'm afraid..."  
Archie let out a dejected and pained sigh  
"This is all my fault..." He muttered, a sad look coming over his swelled, bruised eyes  
"What? No!" Emma and Snow exclaimed  
"I must have said something... He comes down here everyday..." Archie took a shuddered breath, this amount of talking exhausting his already weak body. "He asks me about Rumplest..." He tries, but he just can't finish the word. "He asks about him... His weaknesses. His allies... His enemies..." He closed his eyes weakly, taking another shaking breth "I must have said something..."  
"Archie, you've said nothing." Snow reassured him "Hook only caught us because we caught him trying to break into Rumple's shop. He's done nothing. Noone's missing, noone's dead. We are all accounted for. Hook's been wandering round the entire week you've been gone."  
"A week..." Archie opened his eyes again, frowning slowly "That's how long it's been... It seemed a lot longer..."  
"Archie..." Snow shifted awkwardly, unsure how to break the news "Everyone thinks you're dead..."  
"What?" Archie breathed  
"We found your body... I found your body in your office a week ago... We buried you three days ago..." Emma explained "Everyone assumed Regina did it."  
"N-no..." Archie said, eyes growimg wide "Regina didn't do it... She's innocent!" He sat forward in his panic "It was Cora, Cora and H- AH!" Archie cried out in pain, his panic pulling at his injuries  
"Archie, calm down." Snow held him, leaning him carefully back against the wall "We're going to get you out of here."  
On cue, Emma shot forward and began to pick at the rope binding his wrists. Archie cried out again as one of the ropes rubbed against a wound. Emma shot out a stream of apologies and, after a few minutes of careful picking, the rope dropped to the floor, revealing a set of deep, harsh cuts on his wrists from the days of captivity. A fresh stream of blood began to flow from the newly freed wounds, red veins of blood trailing down his arms, staining his white shirt more crimson than it already was.  
Snow quickly took off her scarf and staunched the bleeding, but Archie had evidently lost to much blood already and his eyes where now flickering, finding himself boarding on the brink of consciousness.  
"Archie, I need you to stay with me, alright? Archie!" Emma called to him, trying to shake him awake without disturbing any wounds, which was difficult to say the least.


	2. Chapter 2

Suddenly, the hatch door opened and Hook peered in.  
"How are my captives doing?" He mused down to them. Snow and Emma shot murderous looks up at him and Archie opened his eyes, dragging them upwards to look at him weakly "The cricket, the queen and the chosen one, how quaint..."  
"Let Archie go, you b*stard." Snow snarled up at him "He has nothing to do with this."  
"My, such language from royalty..." Hook gasped in fake shock, clambering down into the hold "But I'm afraid I'm not done with the grasshopper yet, my dear." Emma snarled inwardly at this nickname. "He has so much information I need to know and I'm afraid he's been holding out on me."  
He held out his hook, propping it under Archie's chin, the spike digging into Archie's flesh. Archie hissed as a droplet of blood slid down the pirate's hook.  
"Let him go!" Snow yelled "Let all of us go! We promise we won't tell anyone you were involved. What do you want? Money? We can get anything you want!"  
"Can you get me Rumplestiltskin, my dear?" Hook leaned closer, taking his hook away from Archie, slightly releasing the panic swirling round Emma and Snow's gut "Can you give me the revenge I so crave?"  
"D-don't tell him, Snow..." Archie rasped from the edge of consciousness "Don't become like them..."  
Hook rounded on Archie again  
"No one asked you, Insect." He snarled, brandishing his Hook once more in the direction of Archie's throat. Archie closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable punishment, like the ones that he had been dealt so many times in the past few days.

Only it didn't arrive. As soon as Hook advanced with his claw, Snow shot forward, delivering a sharp blow to the back of Hook's head, sending him crashing to the side, head hitting the floor hard, leaving him in an unconscious lump on the floor.  
Archie, hearing the crash, opened his eyes, looking impressed.  
"He talked to much." Snow told him, earning her a weak smile.

With some difficulty, they managed to help lift Archie, who's injuries made him unable to move much and therefore a deadweight, out of the hold and out onto the dock, taking care not to knock his broken arm Night had rolled across the town already and most of the town was asleep, allowing them to help carry the injured Archie through town to their apartment pretty easily, with only a few disconcerting blood spots to explain away as a rogue fox the next morning.  
"Stay there." Emma told Snow once they reached the apartment, the manoeuvring up the stairs having been a nightmare. They had rested the semi-conscious Archie against the wall by this time, allowing Emma to disentangle herself before going into the flat.  
As she expected, Henry sat with Pongo on the sofa, both loyally waiting for them to return. However, as soon as the door opened, Pongo shot off the sofa and dashed out into the corridor, barking and wagging his tail.  
"What's up with Pongo?" Henry asked. Emma shut the door before he could follow. Snow could deal with the dog for now.  
"Henry, I think you should go to bed." She told him  
"Why?" Henry asked  
"It's to do with operation Cobra." Emma flustered  
"Operation Cobra's over." Henry told her, rolling his eyes "It's operation Viper now. Didn't David tell you?"  
"Where is your grandfather anyway?" Emma asked  
"He went out for some milk." Henry said, standing up "Can I get Pongo now?" He went to the door  
"No!" But before Emma could stop him he heaved the door open.  
Henry blinked. Then screamed.


End file.
